Belarus media harassed in run-up to presidential vote

New York, December 10, 2010--Belarusian authorities must stop harassing independent media outlets and journalists and allow them to cover the December 19 presidential elections without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On Wednesday, the Minsk-based pro-opposition news website Charter 97 reported
that authorities had opened their third criminal case this year against the
site, based on unspecified materials that prosecutors allegedly found in
computers confiscated from Charter 97's
newsroom in March.

Natalya
Radina, the outlet's chief editor, told CPJ she
learned about the new development accidentally when she called the Minsk prosecutor's office
on Wednesday to inquire about the status of Charter
97's seized equipment. Sergei Ivanov, head of the investigations department
at the prosecutor's office, told Radina that the equipment will remain
confiscated because a new criminal case was opened. He would not specify the
possible charges, or say whether it concerned Charter 97 as a media outlet or its individual staffers.

"We call on Belarusian authorities to allow Charter 97 and other independent and
opposition media outlets to do their job undisturbed," CPJ Europe and Central
Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianovasaid.
"The upcoming Belarusian presidential vote will not be legitimate if the press
is intimidated, prosecuted, and denied access--and muzzled into silence."

In March, Minsk police officers confiscated computers from
the newsrooms of Charter 97 and the opposition
daily Narodnaya Volya, as well as
from the home of Irina Khalip, Belarus correspondent for the Moscow-based
independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Police said at the time that they
were investigating allegations that news media had defamed the security
service's Gomel
regional chief. A month later, Minsk
prosecutors opened another
defamation case against Charter 97
based on critical comments left by the website's readers, Radina told CPJ.

Khalip and Radina told CPJ they believe authorities are
preparing to crack down on independent coverage of the December 19 vote and its
aftermath. Nine candidates will nominally challenge Alexander Lukashenko, but
the results have already been decided, the journalists said.

In a separate case, Belarusian authorities denied an entry
visa to Sweden-based freelance photojournalist Dean
C.K.Cox, who had planned to cover the presidential vote for the
Prague-based media organization Transitions
Online. Cox, a veteran photojournalist and documentary photographer, has
covered the former Soviet bloc for dozens of international outlets, including The New York Times and The Associated Press. He is completing a book on Belarus
under Lukashenko's rule.